Myrnin's Trial
by thornk97
Summary: When Myrnin takes things too far with Claire, how's everyone going to react when they find out? And what will the consequences be for his actions?
1. Too Far!

As Claire walked down the dark alley that led to the 'trapdoor spider's underground lair' (which is the name given to him by his neighbours- Claire had to laugh at it), she texted Shane. Just a quick message to say she loved him and would be home in time for dinner. She didn't know why she did it but for some reason, she felt like she had to. In some ways, you could say that she could sense what was about to happen. She opened the door of the shack that led down to Myrnin's lab. As she closed it behind her, she got a text. It was from Shane. It read, 'Hey beautiful. Missing you already. Can't wait to see you later. Love you, S xx'. Claire smiled to herself and walked down the steps.

As usual, Myrnin's lab was a mess. It looked like a herd of rhinos had charged through it. Books were everywhere, lab equipment out on every available surface and other junk was just dumped on the floor. It was like an obstacle course, just getting from one side of the room to the other. If you weren't careful and didn't look where you were going, you could easily trip over something and break you leg, or worse. Claire sighed. No matter how hard she tried to clean the place up, it still looked like a pig sty the next time so came. There was no sign of her boss but she did, however, spot his ever-present spider Bob, sat in his tank, looking at her with big, shiny eyes. She shuddered. It was all hairy and disgusting. She had no idea why Myrnin kept it, or what the appeal of having it was. She considered throwing it out while Myrnin wasn't here, but she knew he would be deeply upset. And besides, he'd probably just find another one anyway. Claire put on her lab coat and started to clean up the floor. She was glad she was being careful, because she found a pair of scissors, open and pointing up at a strange angle. Who knew what could have happened if she hadn't have spotted it.

"Ah, Claire. And what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Myrnin had appeared silently and wondered over towards her, looking intently at the book he had in his hands.

Claire was confused. "You asked me to come over today." Myrnin looked up from the book he was reading and raised his eyebrows.

"I did?" When Claire nodded, he shook his head. "Oh well I don't remember this." He shrugged. "Well since you here, you might as well continue with our work, hadn't you?" Claire had been planning on doing that anyway, if it hadn't have been for the death trap that covered his floor.

"What are you reading?" She didn't recognise the book but the handwriting was familiar. It was Amelie's. "Is it from Amelie?"

"No, it's not from her. It's _by_ her. She wrote this. It's a detailed description of the process of microscopic level ionic bonding..." He continued to drone on the background, but Claire wasn't listening. She interrupted him.

"Amelie wrote a book? When?"

"Oh, a few hundred years ago, I suppose. But I find it quite interesting. Maybe you would enjoy it." The look on Claire's face pretty clearly said that she wouldn't enjoy that. Myrnin's smile faltered. "What's wrong Claire? Since when have you not been interested in a form of science. It is fascinating, you know."

"I've no doubt that it is. Maybe someday I'll read it..." She left that thought hanging. She didn't need to tell Myrnin about the slim possibility of that actually happening. However, Myrnin had already walked off, to do whatever it was that he did while Claire seemed to do all the work. She spent the next hour in silence, which she was grateful for. It was hard to master the art of alchemy anyway, without the constant distractions of Myrnin talking in her ear. After she thought she had done enough for one day, she wandered over to see what Myrnin was up to. He was studying something under a microscope. She couldn't make it out from where she was standing. "What are you looking at?" She asked. Myrnin stood up and turned to look at her.

"The similarities between plant and human cells. I know it's basic, but sometimes it's nice to do something simple, to not have to exercise your brain all the time. Amelie would kill me if she heard me say that." He smiled to himself and then focused back on her. "Why don't you take a look?" She stepped forward to look into the microscope. As she passed him, she accidentally brushed Myrnin's arm and he froze. Claire, oblivious to this, bent her head to look into the microscope.

"Huh, so they are quite similar. Who could have guessed?" She smiled, but Myrnin stayed perfectly blank. He just stared at her, as if he was seeing her for the first time. "Myrnin? Are you ok? What's wrong?" She stared at him, confused. He stayed motionless for so long, Claire thought he was completely ignoring her. Then all of a sudden he said,

"No nothing's wrong." And began to move again. He took the slide away from the lens and put it in a box and then put this on a shelf. But Claire didn't feel better. His tone was all wrong and he was moving strangely, as if he was thinking about something else and wasn't focused on what he was doing. Claire sighed. It was probably one of his mood swings again. She took off her lab coat, hung it on its hook and started towards the stairs.

"Bye Myrnin." Claire called over her shoulder. She had just reached the bottom step when she heard Myrnin call her name.

"Claire! Wait for a second. There's something I need to talk to you about." '_Oh no_', Claire thought. '_What have I done now_?' She turned around and nearly leapt backwards, because Myrnin was so close! She hadn't heard him move, but he was right behind her, inches away. "Claire." He whispered it and then all of a sudden, she was pressed again the wall and Myrnin was moving closer. '_OMG. HE'S GOING TO BITE ME!_', she thought and then his lips were on hers. They were hard like stone and too firm, pressing on her with a power and force she wasn't used to.

"Myrnin-" Claire tried to talk, but his lips crushed hers, cutting off her ability to speak. She moved her hands to his chest and shoved, but he didn't budge. She hit him, pushed, shoved, kicked. He didn't let her go. Suddenly, he captured her hands in a vice-tight grip and pulled then down to her sides. He was holding her arms too tight. She knew she would have bruises. His lips left hers but travelled down to her neck. He continued to kiss her, oblivious to her struggles to get free. "Myrnin, get off of me! What are you doing?" She struggled again, and his hands tightened on her arms. "Ow! Myrnin, you're hurting me! Let go!" Tears were silently streaming down Claire's face. Myrnin brought his lips back to hers. The kiss was fierce and too strong, with an undertone of urgency and desperation. His grip on her arms was bone-crushingly tight. Claire tried to push against him, struggling to get free. He finally seemed to get the message and backed off, releasing Claire's arms. She pushed him away from her and fled towards the stairs. She legged it up them, two at the time. Myrnin was trying to call to her.

"Claire, wait! Come back! I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me! Please wait!" But she didn't. She reached the top of the stairs and flung the door open. She charged out of the door, ran down the alleyway and burst out onto the street. Tears were streaming down her face and she couldn't seem to stop shaking. She ran down the street, trying to put as much distance between herself and Myrnin as possible.


	2. The Truth Will Come Out!

Claire ran all the way back to the Glass house. By the time she arrived, she was out of breath and shaking all over. She half expected Myrnin to jump out in front of her, as she rounded the last corner onto Lot Street, but luckily he was nowhere in sight. She knew she couldn't go into the house like this. Shane, Eve and Michael would instantly know something was up. But she wasn't really to tell them yet, especially not Shane. She was still trying to handle it herself. She was so confused. So many thoughts were swirling in her head. Why would he do that? What made him? What am I going to do now? Everything seemed like too much. She sat down the steps outside of the house and cried silently. She knew that if she opened the door now, she'd have to face their questions and acqusations. She wasn't ready for that. Not now.

After a while of sitting and trying to calm herself down, she became aware of how dark it was getting. She wasn't late (yet), but they would be out looking for her soon, if she didn't go inside. Claire took a few deep breaths, and wiped the traces of tears away from her eyes. She stood up and unlocked the front door. The minute she opened the door, she heard the familiar noise of the tv and the smell of chilli. Of course! It was chilli night, her favourite night of the week. But now, it didn't feel so great. She took another deep breath and walked down the hall, into the living room.

"Claire. Finally! I need your help setting the table. The boys are hopeless." This was greeted with the sound of a wounded "Hey!" from both Michael and Shane, who barely glanced up from the video game they were playing. Claire sighed and walked over to the table, to grab the tablecloth. She threw it over the table, smoothed out the creases, and set the placemats down. Eve had wandered into the kitchen and had come back in again, carrying a tray of drinks. She set it down in the middle of the table and stood back to observe their teamwork. "Looks good." She said and smiled at Claire. She transferred he stare to Michael and Shane, who had just finished their game and were packing it away. "See. She can do the table and make it look neat. Maybe you two should learn from her." Claire chuckled and so did Michael.

"Alright." He said. "We'll both take lessons from Claire on how to make the table look perfect." He rolled his eyes and he and Eve walked into the kitchen. Shane came over to Claire and pulled her into a hug. She tried not to wince when he accidentally touched the bruise on her arm, from where Myrnin had held on to her. He let go and pulled her face to his, planting her with a warm, sweet kiss. It was nothing like Myrnin's. It was soft and damp and Shane was so gentle with her. She felt safe with him and for a moment, just a moment, she forgot about what happened with Myrnin. Shane just had that effect on her.

"Hey." Shane said and smiled at her. "So, how was your day? Full of fun?" He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. "Blow anything up?"

Claire laughed. "No, it wasn't that good." She almost started to cry as she recalled the day's events in her head. It had started out so great, with her and Shane in her room. How it had now gotten so bad, she wasn't sure. She just wanted to return everything to what it was like earlier. But the bruises forming on her arms were proof that that wasn't going to happen. "How about you?" She asked, to get the attention off of her. "What's your day been like? Do anything fun?"

"No, not really. But it's better now your here." Claire felt tears spring to her eyes. God, he was so perfect. On impulse, she leant forward and kissed him. It was a slow delicate kiss, but with time, it built and built, until it had deepend into something wild and passionate. The hot moment was sliced open by Eve's voice saying,

"Oh god. Their at it again. Remind me Michael to put a ban on public displays of affection in this living room while other people are in the house." Michael laughed and put the plated he was carrying on the table. Claire and Shane looked at each other and grinned. They couldn't help it. They were in love. The thought of that made hot bubbles of warmth rise up in Claire's stomach. She sat down at the table and smiled at Shane, trying to put all her love for him into it. After a second, he returned the smile and Claire felt her heart leap and skip faster in response. After dinner, her and Shane ended up on the sofa, cuddling, while Eve and Michael were in the kitchen, cleaning up. He was caressing the small of her back in tiny circles, slowly easing all her tension away. The problem with Myrnin was started to feel like a dream, now she was here with Shane. It was only later, in her room, when she saw the bruises on her arms that the enormaty of the day's event really hit her. She fell into a deep sleep, and dreamt that Myrnin was there again, kissing her and holding her arms down, while she struggled to get free.

In the morning, the bruises looked worse. The were technicoloured and were almost covering the bottom half of her arms and wrists. She shuddered at the memory and tried to go about her day, without having to think about Myrnin, at all. By the time dinner came around, and they were all at the table, she had a feeling at her housemates might have suspected something was wrong with her. Or at least she guessed that Eve might have suspected it. But luckily, Eve didn't say anything to her. Again, she ended up on the couch with Shane. He kissed her and the emotions inside of her exploded out. She rolled them over, so that he was underneath and continued to kiss him, and then down his neck and down the top of his chest, to where his t-shirt stopped her. The fire in her was building higher... until Shane accidentally held onto her arms where the bruises were. She winced and pulled away. She got off of Shane and moved to sit next to him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worry spreading across his face.

"Nothing, it's just..." She stopped and rubbed at her wrists. For some reasons, they seemed to hurt a lot. Even though Shane hadn't actually hurt her, the skin felt sensitive and the minute he touched it, pain leapt through her body. Shane looked down at her hands, rubbing her wrists, and back up at her face.

"Claire, if something's wrong, you can tell me, you know? I love you. You know that right?" Claire nodded and the look of pain on Shane's face increased. "Claire, baby, what's wrong?" While he was talking, she was still rubbing her wrists, trying to decrease the pain. Somehow, Shane got a signal and moved his hands to cover hers. He moved hers out of the way and, slowly, lifted her sleeves up, to the elbows. The bruises looked sickly dark in the bright lights. He just stared at them for a moment and looked up at her face. "Claire... what happened to you?" His voice was deadly quiet. She looked down, avoiding his eyes. She didn't want to answer his question, but she knew she'd have to. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. There was a hint of tears in her eyes. Shane watched her in silence and then asked, "Who did this to you?" Claire closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew it was inevitable that she had to answer Shane. So she looked him directly in the eyes and said,

"It was Myrnin."


	3. He Will Pay

"What do you mean 'it was Myrnin'?" Claire didn't answer Shane. She didn't think she could. "Claire, what did he do to you?" Claire looked up at him and the tears poured down her face in streams. She couldn't control it anymore.

"It was yesterday. I was just about to leave, to come home, and he stopped and said he needed to talk to me. And then he pushed me up against the wall and..." Claire didn't think she could go on. The memory still haunted her.

"And?" Shane probed. His face was full of kindness, a kindness Claire didn't think she deserved.

"And... he kissed me. I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong. He grabbed by arms and he was holding really tight. That's how I got the bruises." And then she broke down. Claire couldn't take it anymore. It was all too much for her. Shane wrapped his arms around her and held her, while she cried her heart out. When she started to calm down, he let go of her and looked her straight in the face. His eyes were full of worry.

"Was this all he did to you? I mean, he didn't... hurt you anywhere else, did he?" Claire shook her head, too overcome to speak. Shane looked relieved for a second and then he stood up and started pacing the room. He was pissed. You could tell it just by looking at his face. Eve and Michael walked in, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room. Claire hurriedly pulled her sleeves back down, to cover the bruises. They stopped talking and looked at Shane first, pacing the room, and then Claire, with tears still fresh in her eyes.

"What's going on?" Eve asked. "Are you two having a fight?" Michael looked pissed then, at Shane. Of course they'd jump to the wrong conclusions. Claire should have thought of that before.

"No. We're not fighting." That was all Claire could manage to get out. The rest seemed to get stuck in her throat.

"Shane, what's going on?" Michael looked wary now, and like Eve, he was alarmed to see Claire in tears.

Shane took a deep breath. "It's Myrnin." He shook his head and looked at Claire, love and worry filling his face. "He..." Shane stopped and then had to start again. "He attacked Claire." There was silence in the room. Complete silence. Both Eve and Michael were in shock.

"What do mean, he attacked Claire?" Eve asked. She was starting to panic now.

"I mean he kissed Claire without asking and then he grabbed her arms. He could have broken her wrists. She has bruises, for christ's sake." Shane voice got higher and higher. The anger was starting to boil out of him.

"Bruises?" Eve asked. He face was lined with shock. She scanned Claire's body, as did Michael, but they didn't see any visible bruises. Shane walked to Claire and, gently, lifted both of her sleeves, so that the bruises on her wrists and arms were clearly visible. Eve gasped and Michael face changed from confused to horrified. Eve covered her mouth with both hands. They stared at the bruises in silence and then Eve ran to Claire and put her arms around her. You could see Michael trying to work it out in his head. He stood there, just staring at Claire's arms and then he said, quietly,

"When did this happen?"

"Yesterday." Claire whispered, just loud enough for Michael to hear. There was silence and then Shane said,

"That son of a b-"

"Shane!" Eve's voice broke through the last part of his sentence. "That's not helping."

"Well it's helping me!" Shane yelled. There was silence and then Shane continued. "He hurt her, Eve. He hurt Claire. How are you expecting me to feel? I don't even know how to feel. I don't even know what to do." His voice broke at the end and the pain he felt started to seep through. None of them knew how to feel or what they should do. They all sat there, Eve on one side, and Shane on Claire's other side, both holding her hands. Michael paced. He couldn't seem to sit still.

"We have to do something." Michael said, not looking up from the floor, as he continued to walk back and forth.

"Well duh. Of course we have to do something." Shane said. "He is NOT getting away with this. EVER." The anger in Shane made his voice as hard as rock and as blunt as a knife.

"We should tell Amelie." Michael said. "She can't let this slip by. She has to see that this isn't right. We have to make her see that this isn't right." They all nodded in agreement, all except for Claire, who was to numb to do anything.

"Then let's go!" Shane said. "What are we waiting for?"

"Hold on, Shane. Claire, are you ok to do this? Do you think you can?" Michael asked Claire tentatively. She looked up at him. She was too numb from crying to have any other emotion. She nodded, or at least she thought she nodded. She couldn't really tell. "Let's go then." They left the house and headed straight to founder's square. The drive was long and silence. Shane and Michael were too pissed to talk. Eve was too upset. And Claire just couldn't seem to feel anything at all. She was numb and cold. She shivered, even though the car's heating was on. Shane scooted closer to her and put his arm around her.

"You're going to be ok, Claire. We're gunna tell Amelie and she's gunna sort this mess out. You don't need to worry. We're all here for you." Even though Shane was so angry he could burst, he couldn't be like that to Claire. She'd been tramatized enough already. By this time, they had arrived at founder's square. They left a message with the guards that they had to speak with Amelie urgently and, after talking to her personal secretary, they were allowed through to see her. Michael parked in the underground carpark and shut off the engine.

"Ok guys. We can't go in there all guns blazing-"

"Why not?" Shane said. He held up his hand. "I, for one, would fully support doing that, in the mood I'm in."

"Shane, we can't do that. Amelie won't like it and she'll see it as a threat. And we all know what happens when you threaten the founder..." He left it hanging. They all were fully aware of the consequences of that. Claire shuddered. "We need to let Claire do the talking. She may not want to..." He looked at Claire in the rearview mirror, and then continued. "... but she has to. It's about her, so she has to say it. We're only here for backup,ok?" He could see that Shane was about to protest, so he cut him off. "No I mean it, Shane. Don't argue with me now. We're here to help Claire. And what you're thinking won't help." Shane shut his mouth. He knew Michael was right. "So, are we all clear?" They all nodded and got out of the car.

By the time they got to Amelie's office, Claire had a pretty faint idea of what she was planning on saying. But the minute she got inside the office, and when she saw Amelie, she couldn't seem to summon up the courage to say them.

"Claire. Oh and the rest of the Glass house residents. To what do I owe this pleasure? My secretary said it was important?" Claire shuddered. Those were the same words Myrnin had used yesterday when she first saw him. Michael, sensing Claire couldn't talk, decided to go against his own rule and spoke for her.

"Amelie. We have a... problem. It's to do with Claire... And Myrnin."

"And what is this problem, may I ask?"

"Myrnin... He... He attacked Claire." Michael let that sit for a second. Amelie just stared at him.

"And what do you mean by, 'he attacked Claire'?"

"He kissed her and then grabbed her arms. She has bruises to prove it."

"You do, Claire?" Amelie asked, eyebrows raised. Claire nodded and lifted her sleeves to show her. Silence. And then Amelie let out her breath, slowly. "I see." was all she said. The silence stretched on and on and then Shane said,

"So what are you going to do about it?" Eve and Michael shot him quick warning glances. Amelie just continued to stare at Claire's arms. After a while, she looked up at each of their faces, saving Claire for last.

"What is it you want me to do about this?"

"Are you kidding me?" Shane asked, shock and anger clear on his face. "Are you actually kidding me?" His voice rose higher, until he was almost shouting. "What do you think we want you to do? What, nothing? Is that what you think? Well, let me tell you, lady-" Amelie's calm voice cut across his sentence.

"I assure you, Mr Collins, that something will be done. HIs actions will not go unpunished. I was merely aquiring as to what you suggest would be an appropriate form of action now. Oh, and the next time you even consider threatening me, I won't be so nice about it." Her gaze was cold as ice and Claire shivered, even though it wasn't directed at her. Amelie continued to stare at Shane, until she was satisfied that he wasn't going to answer her back, and then she continued. "I will be talking to Myrnin and I will get to the bottom of this... problem."

"Is that it?" Eve asked. "Is that all you can do?" She asked it nicely, but still Amelie focused her stare on her and Eve quickly amended, "I just mean't that talking to him isn't going to help. He's not a patient. This needs a proper punishment-"

"And this will have a proper punishment, I can tell you this. I know you may not think it, but I am also deeply disturbed by this. I just am better at concealing my emotions. But don't you worry. Myrnin will be punished as I see fit, you can count on that." She nodded, a clear signal that she wanted them to leave. With a glance between them, they started towards the door. "Claire." Amelie called her back. "You are not required to visit Myrnin until this... issue is resolved. Is that clear?" Claire nodded and left, closing the door behind her.


	4. Punishment

Amelie sighed and picked up the phone. She dialled Myrnin's number. He answered on the second ring.

"Hello Amelie. And what do I owe the pleasure of your call at this time of night?"

"Myrnin, I think it's time we had a talk. Come to my office. Now." Myrnin was silence on the end of the line. And then he asked,

"And what is this talk about, may I ask?"

"Why don't you just come down, and we'll talk about it then." Amelie hung up. If he had any sense, he would come. She wasn't in a forgiving mood, at that precise moment. She was appalled at Myrnin's behavour and they had been right. He had to be punished. Amelie was considering her options, when she felt the portal in the room open. She looked down at one of the books she had laid open on the desk. Myrnin walked through the portal, closed it and came to stand in front of Amelie.

"You wanted to talk?" He asked, a smile on his face. Amelie looked up at him and said,

"Sit down, Myrnin." He looked confused but did as he was told. "Now, I know you know why I have called you heard, so you can stop pretending. It's about Claire." Myrnin's face dropped and he suddenly looked guilty.

"She came to speak to you?" He made it a question, even though he knew the answer. He was just hoping that it hadn't happen. Amelie shattered all his hope when she said,

"Yes, she came to speak to me. Along with her friends. It seems you have made some enemies, Myrnin." She looked up at him. He was staring at the table with a glare she didn't think it deserved. He didn't say anything to her. The silence stretched on. Finally, Amelie broke it by saying, "So is it true? Did you attack her?" Myrnin's head shot up when he heard this and a look of confusion crossed his face.

"Attacked?"

"Yes, attacked."

"They are accusing me of attacking her?" Amelie was getting tired of his feeble attempts to side-track her.

"Yes, that is what they accused you of. They told me that you kissed her and held her arms down to stop her from escaping, so tell me Myrnin, is it true?" The note of command in her voice was obvious. Myrnin looked at her for so long she thought he wasn't going to answer. And then finally he said,

"Yes it's true. It did kiss her and I did hold her arms down. But I don't agree that I attacked her. I would never do that. I would say I restrained her, that's all."

"Well I agree with them. I believe you attacked her, and deep down, you know it's true. And what I must ask is why? Why you would be possessed to do such a thing? What was going through you head, please tell me?" Myrnin was staring at her in shock, like he'd never seen her like this before, which wasn't true, because he'd definately seen her like this before, although it had never been aimed at him before. Until now.

"I don't know." Was all he said. He refused to meet her eyes. "I don't know why I did it. Something inside of me made me do it. I couldn't control myself. I knew she was fighting me, but I couldn't stop. I did grab her arms, but I don't know I was holding that tight. I forgot that I'm stronger than her."

"Yes you did, didn't you?" Amelie was furious. She had refused to let her emotions show when Claire and her friends were here, but now that it was just Myrnin, she let them go. They boiled out of her and she couldn't stop them. " You didn't think did you? Not for one second, you didn't think. Not about the consequences, not about what you were doing, not about anything! And now look what you've done. She has bruises on her arms, Myrnin. That's how little you thought."

"Bruises?" Myrnin asked, shock all over his face. "She has bruises?"

"Yes, she has bruises. And they are your fault." Amelie stopped to take a breath. "I knew this would happen. I warned you. I warned Oliver. But you told me it wouldn't happen. That there was no way you would ever develop feelings for her, for any human. And here you are, attacking one, against her own free will. You know, Oliver even said that he suspected it would happen, and that I should be careful, and you know what. I didn't listen! And now I wish I had. Then we would have never been in this mess. So what do you suppose we do now then?" Myrnin continued to look down, avoiding her stare.

"I don't know, Amelie. I don't know what to say."

"You could start by apologizing."

"I'm sorry-"

"No, not to me. To Claire. After all, she's the one you hurt. She's the one you kissed." She spat the last word. It was all she could do to show her disgust at him. "You know how important Claire is to me. To Morganville. And now look at what you've done. You've ruined everything. Why don't you think sometimes?"

"I do think." Myrnin stood up and shouted in Amelie's face.

"Well clearly not enough!" Amelie roared. "You are banned from seeing her, until I decide it is appropriate. Is that clear?"

"But Amelie..." Myrnin started to protest.

"Is that clear?" Amelie interupted him, fury evident in her voice. She was beyond listening to his protests and complaints. She'd had enough.

"Yes, Amelie."

"Yes, Founder." Amelie corrected him. Myrnin looked at Amelie in shock. She had never made him call her that before. Now that he thought about it, they'd never fallen out either. Defeated, Myrnin said,

"Yes, Founder."

"Now, you will start by going to Claire and apologizing for you dispicable behaviour, and then you will return to your _lab_," She put a whole lot of sarcasm onto the word. "and will stay there until further notice. Is that clear?" Myrnin nodded, too shocked to even begin to protest. "Oh and Myrnin, I will be monitoring your every move, so don't think you can do something behind my back. I will know if you even put a toe out of line. Now, you have been warned. If I hear of you having anymore contact with Claire, or anyone else from that house, I will..." Myrnin refused to listen to what she would do. It would, no doubt be ghastly. He had never seen this side to Amelie, or at least, he'd never seen it aimed at him. Now he knew what it was like to be on the blunt end of justice. And now he knew that he never wanted to be there again.

Back at the Glass house, nobody knew what to say. They knew that vampires were rarely punished in Morganville, and the thought made Claire stomach turn. So he could get away with it and nothing would be done. She hoped that Amelie would stick to her word and punish Myrnin severly. After all, he did deserve it. The idea of him roaming around freely, after what he'd done to her, made her want to throw up. Suddenly, she felt a psyhcic wave sweep through the house. The portal. It was being opened. She looked at Michael and they both had identical expressions of confusion and horror. Seconds later, a large, black space opened up in the far wall, behind the sofa. To Claire's utter horror, Myrnin stepped through. She backed away from the couch, and most importantly, from him.

"Wait, Claire. Before you jump to any conclusions, I'm here to apologize-" In the next moment, Michael had zipped across the room, vampire-speed, and had Myrnin up against the wall, next to the open portal. "Wait, Michael, wait. I'm not here to fight. Amelie sent me here to apologize." At the mention of Amelie, Michael slowly started to back off.

"Mickey, what are you doing?" Shane was looking at him in horror.

"He said Amelie sent him here to apologize. Maybe we should let him."

"You can't trust him."

"I know, but when he's done, he can get out of our house." Michael looked at Shane for a second, and then returned his gaze to Myrnin. "He owes Claire that much, at least." Myrnin continued to stare at Claire, but she refused to look at him.

"Claire, please look at me." Myrnin pleaded with her, but she wasn't listening.

"She can do what she bloody well wants to." Shane said standing in front of Claire, protectively. He was slowly starting to move towards Myrnin. Whether that was subconsciously or not, Claire couldn't tell. "Now, get on with it." Myrnin looked at Shane briefly, and then nodded. He returned his gaze to Claire, and continued.

"I came to say... I'm sorry, Claire. I'm sorry for what I did to you. If you could find it in your heart to forgive me, I would be extremely grateful-" Shane punched Myrnin in the face, hard. He collapsed to the floor. Shane shook out his knuckles.

"You've said what you needed to. Now get the hell out of our house." Shane's voice was hard and blunt. He glared at Myrnin, clearly ready to punch him again, if he saw fit to. Myrnin got up off the floor. Claire could see that his nose was broken. It was crooked and blood dripped out of it and ran down Myrnin's chin. He pulled the cartalige back into place with a soft crack. The blood slowly stopped dripping and Myrnin wiped the excess off with the back of his hands. He stared at Shane and his eyes flashes red. He took one last, torchered look at Claire and then backed slowly into the open portal behind him. The minute he was gone, Claire closed the portal with her mind and asked the house to seal it off. A second later, another pyshcic wave swept through the house and it sealed its self over the portal. An invisible lock, better than anything Claire could ever do. No-one was getting in now. Eve, like Claire hadn't moved throughout the confrontation, now collapsed on the sofa. She looked as exhausted as Claire felt. After a few seconds, Michael walked over to her. Their eyes met and finally Eve said,

"Right. I'm going to bed. I've had enough trauma for one night." She started to walk up the stairs, but Michael caught up with her. Holding hands, they continued up the stairs.

"Night." Michael called over his shoulder, a grin spreading across his face. Shane rolled his eyes at Claire and she laughed. It felt so good to laugh, after the shit day she'd had. She smiled and walked towards her. He lifted his hand and stroked her cheek. She noticed that his hand was red. She held onto it and delicately rubbed his knuckles.

"Are you ok?" She asked him, worry spreading across her face. "Does it hurt?"

"Only a few bruises, nothing I can't handle. It was worth it to break that bastard's nose." He grinned to himself and then focused back on her. She smiled at him.

"Thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"For going all macho-man on him and punching him." Claire smiled at the memory. Although it wasn't very nice to watch, she was glad he'd done it. Myrnin deserved it.

"Your welcome. He deserved it." Claire nodded in agreement. "He hurt you. And I wasn't letting him get away with that. Not ever." Claire smiled at him and a few seconds later he returned it. He put his arms around her and pulled her close. "So... What do you want to do now?" Claire grinned at him and pecked him lightly on the lips.

"I have an idea." Claire said and leaned forward to kiss him. It was a hot passionate kiss, and it sent butterflies flying around her stomach. Yes, she had one thing in mind and she hoped Shane felt the same way. As if he could read her mind, Shane lent forward and planted a warm, sweet kiss on her lips. She turned around and dashed up the stairs, full of excitement, with Shane in hot pursuit.


End file.
